We reside during a remarkable time, an age when humanity is about to cross a threshold. We are about to leave the nest and meet alien life. This blog is dedicated to the science of astrobiology: understanding space, the field of our search; exploring the one example we have of life and its abode, our Earth; reaching for the stars; imagining what extraterrestrial life may be like; and encouraging science education. Please join me for daily updates on the ultimate human adventure.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

How impactors created the inner planets and detectable technical manifestations of ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - New research reveals that the abundance of elements like gold and platinum found in the mantles of Earth, the Moon and Mars were delivered by massive impactors during the final phase of planet formation over 4.5 billion years ago. The study reveals new information about the formation and evolution of rocky planets. See article.gLife - An unremarkable and slow-growing plant has stunned scientists after they found it had the world's largest genome – 50 times bigger than that of our own species. See article.gIntelligence - Like the mute button on the TV remote control, our brains filter out unwanted noise so we can focus on what we're listening to. But when it comes to following our own speech, a new brain study from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that instead of one homogenous mute button, we have a network of volume settings that can selectively silence and amplify the sounds we make and hear. See article.gMessage - What technological manifestations would make an advanced extraterrestrial civilization detectable? See article. Note: This paper is from 1992.gCosmicus - NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached a point at the edge of our solar system where there is no outward motion of solar wind. The craft is getting closer and closer to interstellar space. For 33-year years, Voyager 1 has provided incredible data about the structure of our solar system and many of the outer planets and moons. See article.gLearning - A new website lets astronomers — and anyone who likes to watch stuff blow up — calculate the damage a comet or asteroid would cause if it hit Earth. See article.Read this blogger’s books

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About Me

I'm the owner and chief editor at Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. For more than two decades, I worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years spent as an editor. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and I am the author of the nonfiction “Hikes with Tykes” series, a novel "Windmill", and a collection of poetry, "Love Letters to Sophie's Mom". For seven years I worked as an English teacher or a community college journalism instructor. I hold a master's degree in English and a bachelor's in journalism and English.